Report: Car bomb kills NATO troops in southern Afghanistan

The three dead soldiers were part of a NATO unit from Georgia, stationed in the volatile Musa Qala district in Helmand province, according to the Associated Press. 

Two Marine Corps Special Operations troops were killed in the district last year, when and Afghan police commander ambushed the Marines during a sit down with local leaders. 

{mosads}The troops were invited to a dinner by the Afghan commander and members of the local Afghan police force in Musa Qala. After the meal, the commander opened fire, killing three and wounding one.

A second Taliban bomb went off in southern Afghanistan, destroying a bus full of Afghan civilians travelling through Maroof district, in Kandahar province. 

Roughly 10 Afghans were killed and a number of others wounded, mostly women and children, Kandahar province’s police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq told the AP. 

The Musa Qala attack comes as Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai to discuss the coming U.S. withdrawal from the country next year. 

During the meeting, Carter “reiterated the strong U.S. partnership with Afghanistan and emphasized the continued U.S. commitment to support” Afghan forces after the White House’s 2014 withdrawal deadline, according to the Pentagon readout of the meeting.

Despite Monday’s violence, President Obama reiterated the White House’s goal to have Afghan National Security Forces take the lead in the country by this spring. 

“This spring. U.S., British and coalition forces will move into a support role,” Obama said during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House. 

“Our troops will continue to come home, and the war will end by the end of next year, even as we work with our Afghan partners to make sure that Afghanistan is never again a haven for terrorists who would attack our nations,” Obama said. 

Washington and Kabul have yet to finalize a postwar plan, outlining how many U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan after the deadline and what their mission will be. 

On Saturday, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasoul discussed the terms of an agreement that outlines the U.S.’s role in postwar Afghanistan. 

Former Central Command chief Gen. James Mattis has called for a 13,600-man U.S. force to remain in country after 2014. 

Gen. John Allen, former head of all U.S. forces in Afghanistan, suggested as little as 6,000 U.S. soldiers or as many a 20,000 could remain in country after 2014. 

The White House has reportedly championed a postwar U.S. force of between 8,000 to 10,000 troops. Administration officials have also floated the notion of leaving no American soldiers behind after the withdrawal deadline.